Skating Candlefish Fly Pattern for Sea-run Cutthroat

For the past several months I have been trying to develop a floating candlefish pattern that I could skate on the surface for sea-run cutthroat and silvers in the saltchuck of Puget Sound. I have got the pattern refined to the stage where it appears to work exceptionally well. I have named it S.S. Candlefish. S.S. stands for skating sequin and not a Navy battleship.

The strikes are frequently aggressive with the fish coming 1 to 2 feet out of the water or there is an explosive surface boil. Most outings, I have been landing 10 to 15 sea-runs with a best of 17. It is a good searching pattern since the sea-runs will smack it within a couple of casts if they are at that location. The adult silvers should like it in the summertime when they are driving candlefish up to the surface.

The S.S. Candlefish pattern uses a closed cell foam strip(1/8"x3/16"xlength of hook shank)tied on top of the hook and doubled over to form two layers of foam to floation. You cut the foam strips from 1/8"x8"x11" sheets. This technique works better than using 1/4" foam cylinders(ex. Page's Floating Candlefish) for the following reasons: (1)the foam strips are tied on top of the hook. So very little hook gap is lost when compared to having to run the hook through the center of the 1/4" foam cylinder. Thus, you can use a smaller lighter hook. (2) The body is not as bulky and gives a slender profile like a real candlefish.

A 8mm pearl sequin is epoxied behind the eye of the hook at a 45 degree angle upwards to help skate and pop the pattern on the surface. Both the sequins and white foam sheets(1/8"x8"x11") can be bought at your local craft store.

If you would like a step by step write-up to tie S.S. Candlefish pattern and thoughts on how to fish it, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy. My e-mail is: stephens@cco.net.